Jacques Pommeraud
Managing Director, Africa, France and Government Services, Bureau Veritas
Whether it's building expertise, health & safety or environmental issues, Bureau Veritas France supports companies in their real estate strategy and in their approach to teleworking.
Will the Covid-19 crisis mark a 'before and after' in our relationship with offices?
Yes, there will be a before and an after in our relationship with offices. Of course, the number of people using them and the new ways in which they are used will change our expectations, but the real change brought about by teleworking is its impact on managerial methods. In teleworking, the role of the manager is that of a coach, a facilitator, who must sense from a distance the weak signals of a possible malaise in an employee or a drop in motivation. More than ever, you have to listen to your employees.
For the French model, where presenteeism was strong, this is a real change. But even back in the office, these new managerial practices are likely to continue. Office spaces, on the other hand, will be much more connected, focused on creativity and oriented towards exchanges. It will be a place that complements the home, a pleasant place to live where you can welcome customers without any problems, show them the solutions you offer, and places that are integrated into their environment, into neighbourhoods, so that they can benefit from the services available in the surrounding area and become more attractive.
How have you integrated these new practices at Bureau Veritas?
New expectations call for new practices. Personally, I no longer have an office! I work in an open space. What's important is that when I'm at head office, I'm with the teams, able to interact with them as easily as possible. The "statutory" office, different depending on your hierarchical position, is a thing of the past! At Bureau Veritas, we have eliminated individual offices from our property master plan. But this is nothing new: before the health crisis, we had already made teleworking available to all employees, on a voluntary basis, for up to 5 days a week for those eligible. What has changed is the level of take-up. Today, three-quarters of our employees telework, an average of 2.7 days a week. We even allow it from second homes, because what matters to us is the well-being and personal balance of our employees. Mutual trust leads to collective performance
What advice would you give to managers?
Through our "Remote by BV" programme, we advise companies on their strategy for adopting new remote working practices. The mistake that too many managers make is to see this change from a purely technical angle: questions of equipment, logistics, the organisation of meetings, etc. Yet at the heart of this process lies the human aspect, the management of change, in short, the whole cultural revolution linked to the practice of teleworking. If you're no longer in contact with your colleagues in the office, you have to communicate all the more about the raison d'être of the company's mission in order to unite remote teams. You also need to keep your finger on the pulse of employee well-being to understand what they expect from the office when they go there. Tomorrow, even more than today, workspaces will be co-constructed!
